Kerry Richards, Pesticide Safety Education Coordinator; kerryr@udel.edu
After years of back and forth rulings the Environmental Protection Agency’s FINAL ANSWER (final rule) was to revoke ALL food tolerances of pesticide with chlorpyrifos as of Feb. 25, 2022.
An EPA tolerance is defined as: the amount of a pesticide that is allowed on food.
→ As a result, chlorpyrifos application to food commodities results in food being considered adulterated; distribution of adulterated food in interstate commerce is unlawful under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)
This revocation of chlorpyrifos means that effective February 26, 2020 pesticide products with chlorpyrifos as an active ingredient (for example, Lorsban) MAY NOT BE USED TO TREAT FOOD CROPS!
→ Growers CAN NOT use existing stocks they may still have available.
→ Anyone in possession of chlorpyrifos products for use on food should discontinue use on food crops.
However, non-food chlorpyrifos products are sold as liquids, granules, water-dispersible granules, wettable powders, and water-soluble packets, and may be applied by ground equipment. They may be used on golf courses, and to control fire ants and mosquitoes for public health purposes. Products containing chlorpyrifos are also used to treat wood fences and utility poles.
So what do you do with your existing stocks of Chlorpyrifos? Check out next week’s edition of the Weekly Crop Update information about the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Environmental Sweep Program!